Apparatus for stacking sheets

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for stacking loose sheets, such as newspapers, periodicals and the like, which are fed in a continuous flow of imbricated sheets, each lying with its leading edge part under the preceding sheet of said flow, to a stack forming station having a stop forming an abutment for the leading edges of the oncoming sheets whereby each sheet is pushed underneath the preceding sheets forming a stack at the stacking station. The station is provided adjacent the stop with rotating star wheels engaging the leading edge of each oncoming sheet to lift said edge and to support the stack being formed at a small distance above the plane of feed so as to reduce the friction between the oncoming sheets and the growing stack. Further lifting means may be provided at the trailing lower edge of the stack being formed. When a stack of the requisite number of sheets is formed, a movable separating device is inserted underneath the stack so lifted for further raising and removing the completed stack.

[ 51 June 20, 1972 United States Patent de Ridder Inventor: Gerardus Johannes de Ridder, Baarn,

Netherlands Primary Examiner-Evon C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-Bruce H. Stoner, Jr.

[73] Assignee: Ingenieursbureau De Kidder N.V., Baarn, Attmey--Waters, Roditi, Schwartz& Nissen Netherlands ABSTRACT An apparatus for stacking loose sheets [22] Filed: June 30, 1970 such as newspapers,

[21] Appl. No.: 51,184

periodicals and the like, which are fed in a continuous flow of imbricated sheets, each lying with its leading edge part under the preceding sheet of said flow, to a stack forming station Foreign Application Priority Data June 30,1969 Netherlands.........................

having a stop forming an abutment for the leading edges of the g sheets whereby each sheet is pushed underneath the receding sheets forming a stack at the stacking station. The

oncomin provided adjacent the stop with rotating star wheels engaging the leading edge of each oncoming sheet to lift said ge and to support the stack being formed at a small distance ane of feed so as to reduce the friction between g sheets and the growing stack. Further lifting means may be provided at the trailing lower edge of the stack g formed. When a stack of the requisite number of sheets a movable separating device is inserted underneath the stack so lifted for further raising and removing the 22 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures k m mrm a e d a mm a a n n m k m v0 no m m dwm m 0 PS eat ..D.$ C Aooa o w Bl/S/ 8 B 11 56 M73 9 2 8l 1 4 4 h 741 m 6 B 2m 5 ,6 HM /l S m 1 an, m 8 5 m 6 E n U .8 m T u 6 A n 7 l a D: U. u m S mm m m E mn mm T m u m A Mmm mm r T .mm m "a k S heu u e D SPH m mm R E m M n 051 u N 663 m u www a m n 5 min 721 1 1 M 1111 l 2 8 6 28 D bfi 61 2 3 PATENTEDJUHZO 1972 saw 10F 4 A NO? QQA E P omr w! Q3 mi mm? N mi mm? mm? NQ. mm? mm mm? mm mm mm m mv mm PATENTEDJ H O 1972 SHEET 30F 4 APPARATUS FOR STACKING SHEETS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION.

The invention relates to apparatus for stacking sheets and more particularly to such stacking apparatus in which the sheets are fed to the apparatus in a continuous flow of imbricated sheets each lying with its leading edge part under the preceding sheet of the flow. The sheets may be single sheets but the invention is more in particular concerned with the stacking of multiple folded sheets such as newspapers, periodicals, prospectuses and the like, in stacks of a predetermined number.

Stacking devices of the aforesaid type are generally provided at the actual stacking station with a stop member arranged in the path of the leading edges of the oncoming sheets whereby the sheets are successively pushed underneath the forming stack for instance by means of a feed belt on which the sheets are conveyed. In the known stacking devices the stack thus exerts an increasing pressure by its own increasing weight on the further sheets being advanced underneath the stack. Consequently, the frictional resistance between the oncoming individual sheets and the growing stack increases, with the result that, especially when stacking freshly printed sheets of newspapers, the printing ink still moist from the press, becomes blurred and smeared when the sheets are pushed together. These difficulties arise in particular with the modern, high-speed rotary presses since the stacking devices following such rotary presses must be capable of dealing with the highspeed flow of the sheets with at least the same speed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION.

The invention has for its object to provide a stacking apparatus of the above-mentioned type which reduces or eliminates the aforesaid difficulties. More in particular it is an object of the invention to provide such a stacking apparatus allowing a high stacking rate and capable of coping with the high production rate of the modern high-speed rotary printing presses.

The present invention consists in apparatus. for stacking sheets, such as newspapers and the like, comprising stack forming means provided with a stop member having an abutment face for the leading edges of the sheets fed thereto so as to stop said sheets and form a stack and further provided with lifting means adjacent the stop member for lifting the leading edges of the sheets abutting against the stop member above the plane of feed. This lifting means may comprise driven star wheel means having a plurality of radially extending teeth and so arranged that the points of these teeth describe an are intersecting the plane of feed and the abutment face of this stop member. A guide member is preferably arranged in front of this stop member and adjacent these star wheel means within said are which guide member has an inclined or curved guide surface for the leading edges of the sheets rising from the plane of feed towards the abutment plane of this stop member. Thereby, the leading sheet edges are successively engaged by the teeth of the rotating star wheel means and guided upwardly along the guide surface until they abut against the stop member where the resulting stack in course of formation is supported by the rotating star wheel means teeth. The apparatus may be provided with further lifting means adapted to engage and lift the trailing lower edge of the stack in course of its formation. The oncoming sheets may thus pass underneath the stack substantially without frictional resistance between these sheets and the forming stack. The apparatus further comprises a parting device movable with respect to the stack forming means against the direction of feed of the sheets and arranged to enter underneath the stack raised by the abovementioned lifting means which parting device may thus further lift and transfer the stack of sheets of the required number so parted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

The present invention will be more readily understood and the further objects and advantages thereof will be more apparent when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings illustrating an embodiment of the stacking apparatus according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section along the center line of the stacking apparatus;

FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section of thestacking station of the apparatus with the associated elements omitting the upper removal belts;

FIG. 3 shows a top view of the part shown in FIG. 2 of the apparatus wherein the backing plate and upper feed and the removal belts have been omitted;

FIG. 4 shows a section along the line IV--IV in FIG. 1.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION.

Referring to the drawings, the stacking apparatus as shown has a frame with side plates 1, 2 and 2' (FIG. 3) within which the different shafts of the apparatus are joumalled and between which a central, lower feed belt 3 and a superposed, higher feed belt 4 are longitudinally arranged. The paper sheets, such as freshly printed newspapers 5, to be stacked are fed to the apparatus by belts 6 (FIG. 1) in a known manner, and transferred to the lower feed belt 3. These sheets 5 form a continuous flow of paper, the individual sheets being imbricated and each lying with a front edge part of substantially uniform length under the preceding sheet. The belts 3 and 4 convey the sheets 5 to a stacking station generally indicated by 7 at the downstream end of the apparatus (FIG. 2).

The lower feed belt 3 runs over two jockey rollers 8 and 9. Roller 8 is freely rotatable on shaft 10 and roller 9 is drivably carried on a driven shaft 11. The upper part of the feed belt 3 runs over a channel bar 12 which supports the belt 3. The bottom or web of the channel bar 12 is partially cut away directly in front of the stacking station 7. The resulting gap houses a guide plate 13 with a guide roller 14 located behind it, the roller 14 being carried on a guiding arm 16 which is pivotable on a shaft'lS. The guiding arm 16 coacts with a setting arm 18 carried on a shaft 17, in such manner that adjustment of this shaft 17 allows the height of the belt 3 to be set before stacking. The lower part of the belt 3 passes over jockey rollers 19 and 20 as well as an adjustable tensioning roller 21.

The two shafts l0 and 11 are supported in the outer ends of an elongated, movable carried frame 22 which in addition to the guide bar 12 for the belt 3 is also fitted with bearing cheeks 23 (see also FIG. 3 and 4) and plates 24 and 25. This frame 22 is carried on bars 26 and 27, the upper ends of which carry the rotatable shafts 10 and 11, respectively, while their lower ends are rotatable in bearings on the fixed pivots 28 and 29, respectively, fitted in the main frame of the apparatus. These bars 26 and 27 form together with the frame 22 a parallel-motion bar linkage whereby the frame 22 can be moved to and fro in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus, with a pre-set length of stroke.

On either side of the centrally-placed, lower feed belt three auxiliary side belts 30 are fitted, which are guided on the entry side over a reversing roller, not shown in the drawing. This reversing roller is mounted on the shaft 10 and is linked with the reversing roller 8 on the central belt 3, both rollers being of identical diameter so that both side belts run in the same direction and with the same speed as the belt 3. Adjacent the stacking point, the side belts 30 run over rollers 31 idling on the shaft 1 1 and of smaller diameter than the reversing roller 9 of the central belt, so that these side belts 30 are caused to run from the front to the rear side of the apparatus, slantingly downwards with reference to the central belt. By this means, the sheets resting on the three belts 3 and 30 are bent downwards on their side edges (FIG. 4) and assume a curved cross-sectional shape so that they are longitudinally rigid when arriving at the stacking station 7. The amount of curvature can be adjusted and thus adapted to the nature of the sheets being handled, by adjusting the height of the guide roller 14 and the guide plate 13, as described above.

The shaft 11 on which the driven reversing roller 9 of the central belt 3 is fitted, carries a sprocket wheel 32 which is driven by a sprocket wheel 34 via a chain 33, the sprocket wheel 34 being carried on the shaft 28, which chain drive is arranged between the frame cheek plates and 2'. The shaft 28 is driven by an electric motor, not shown on the drawing.

The frame bars 27 freely pivotable on the shaft 29 and of which only one is shown in FIG. 1, are fixed to a bell-crank lever 35 similarly rotatable on the shaft 29, one end of which is coupled with a connecting rod 36. The other end of this connecting rod 36 is coupled by an eccentric gear 37 with a shaft 38 which is driven through a dog clutch operated as required to perform one complete revolution only. This clutch of known type is schemativally indicated by a ratchet wheel 39 with a pawl 40 and is electromagnetically actuated, controlled by an output signal from a'preset programming counter 41 in a manner well known in the art. This counter 41 is arranged directly in front of the stacking station 7 and suitably incorporates a feeler engaging the stream of paper sheets, which counts the number of sheets passed. When the clutch is engaged, through the connecting rod 36 and bell-crank lever 35, the frame bars 27 and 26 are turned through about 25 from their slanting position shown in FIG. 1 to the right, and immediately swung back into their starting position, whereby the frame 22 and the belts 3 and 30 are correspondingly moved. The transmission ratio between the sprocket wheel 34 carried on the shaft 28 and the jockey roller 9 running on the spindle 11 and driving the belt 3, is so selected that during the reciprocating stroke of the frame 22, the linear speed of the flow of paper remains approximately constant. On the forward stroke of the frame 22, the belt speed relative to the frame, is retarded by the same amount as the forward movement of the frame, and again accelerated on the return stroke of the frame. This ensures that during the action of the frame, the flow of paper sheets is not stretched or compressed and consequently the overlap of the individual sheets remains constant.

As will be seen in FIG. 1 and 2, the belt 3 is provided with cross-ribs on its inner side, while the reversing rollers 8 and 9 have peripheral cross-grooves. The upper feed belt 4 is similarly toothed, but on its outer side.

The upper feed belt 4 is carried on a movable top frame 42. This top frame further has two struts 43 only one of which is visible in FIG. I, which are connected by a shaft 44 and pivot in the upper ends of frame bars 45 the lower ends whereof are rotatably supported on the shaft 29. Each strut 43 carries a beam 46 which is attached at a rearward point by a pin 47 rotatable in a nylon block 48 longitudinally slidable in the channel bar 23 of the underframe 22. These guiding means ensure that by rotating the frame bars 45 relatively to the connecting bars 27 about the shah 29 the struts 43 move approximately parallel to themselves. For adjustment of the angle of rotation between the frame bars 45 and 27, the bell-crank lever connected with the bars 27 carries a forwardly pointing setting arm 49, while a similar setting arm 50 is attached on the frame bars 45. In the foremost position of the frame 42 relatively to the frame 22, shown in the drawing, the two setting arms 49 and 50 lie together, but can be moved apart by means of a screw 51 with opposite threads, passing through the ends of these setting arms, associated with a handwheel 52, until the struts 43 occupy for instance the position shown in broken lines in the figure.

The struts 43 carry on their upper ends a horizontal shaft 53, on which a reversing roller 54 for the belt 4 is freely rotatable and on which a rearwardly extending box beam 55 of the frame 42 is pivotably mounted. This box beam has on its other end a shaft 56 which carries a drive roller for the belt 4. The shaft 56 is driven by a chain 58 and sprocket wheels on shafts 56 and 53, the latter being itself driven by a chain 59 from a further sprocket wheel, not visible in the drawing, running on shaft 44. The further sprocket wheel is connected to a sprocket wheel 60 carried on the shaft 44 and connected by a chain 61 with a large sprocket wheel 62 on the shaft 29.

This sprocket wheel 62 is driven at the same speed as the large sprocket wheel 34, and is of the same diameter as the latter, while the drive roller 9 for the lower belt 3 is of the same diameter as the drive roller 57 for the upper belt 4. The belts 3 and 4 are consequently driven at the same speed and where adjacent move in the same direction as shown by the arrow. When the connecting rod 36 moves the underframe 22 to and fro, the above-described, adjustable transmission gear between the frame bars 27 and 45, simultaneously drives the top frame 42, so that, on account of the chain drives described above, the speed of the upper belt is always the same as the speed of the lower belt 3.

The belt 4 runs over the top guide roller 63 fitted in the frame and a reversing roller 64 freely rotating on a shaft 66 fitted on the end of an arm 65. This arm 65 is at its other end freely pivotable on the spindle 53 and coupled with the beam 55. This shaft 66 also carries angle lugs 67 (only one of which is visible in FIG. 1), which carry on the one hand a vertical backing plate 68 at the stacking station 7, and on the other hand a horizontal pressure plate 69 for the lower part of the, belt 4. It is, however, equally possible to fit the backing plate separately on the shaft 66. The pressure plate 69 is attached on one side to a projecting plate lug 70 with an oblong slot 71 into which a shaft 72 projects. This shaft 72 carries a jockey roller 73 for the belt 4 and is fitted on one end of an arm 74 freely pivotable on the spindle 53 and with which a second arm 75 is pivotally linked at 76 carrying on its free end'a similar jockey roller for the belt 4. The angle between the arms 74 and 75 is variably adjustable by means of a setting element 78 connecting these two arms. The arms 74 and 75 with the jockey rollers 73 and 77, form a differential tensioning gear for the belt 4 to ensure that the belt tension remains constant when because of a change in the thickness of the flow of sheets being fed forward, the jockey roller 73 is forced upwards or drops. The part of the top frame 42 suspended from the struts 43 can be swung upwards on the shaft 53 and in the position shown rests together with the part of the belt 4 running between the rollers 73 and 64, on the flow of sheets, while the pressure plate 69, by the action of the hinge linkages of the shafts 72 and 66, continuously adapts itself to any fluctuations in the thickness of the sheet flow. The aforementioned adjustability of the struts 43 allows the backing plate 68 of the stacking station to be moved according to the length of the paper sheets being handled. Immediately in front of the reversing roller 64 of the belt 4, pressure rollers 79 are fitted on either side of the belt, carried on two swinging arms 80, these arms 80 being otherwise freely pivoted on the shaft 53. Each of these pressure rollers 79 carries a belt 81 driven by a roller freely rotatable on the shaft 53, and not visible on the drawing, both rollers being attached on the reversing roller 54 of the belt 4, so that both belts 81 run at the same speed as belt 4. The pressure rollers 79 with the belts 81 running thereon, lie on the flow of sheets being fed forward, over the lower side belts 30 and consequently press the sheets into the curved form already mentioned earlier. The side belts 30 are at the same time supported on channel beam 82 acting as a guide for these belts and forming part of the underframe 22.

The stacking station 7 is, as follows from the preceding description, bounded on the underside by the center belt 3 and the adjoining lower side belts 30, extending in the running direction past the reversing roller 64 of the upper, central belt 4. On one side the stacking station is bounded by the backing plate 68, to which cheek plates 83 forming the side boundaries of the stacking station are attached; these being laterally adjustable in a manner not further described to suit the width of the paper sheets 5 being stacked. As shown in particular in FIG. 2 and 4, the backing plate 68 has on its underside in the middle, an opening 84 through which the reversing roller 64 slightly projects so that the outwardly-facing teeth of the belt 4 likewise project into the stacking space. The direction of movement of belt 4 is such that at this position the belt 4 (with the outwardly-facing teeth) is moving upwards. A stop member for the sheets to be stacked is fitted opposite the reversing roller 64, consisting of two vertical plates 85 placed at a distance apart on either side of the longitudinal axis or centerline of the apparatus. These plates are attached by screws on a similarly two-part guide block 86 of lesser height. Each part of this guide block has a concave front face 87 extending approximately from the upper side of the feed belt 3 backwards and upwardly tapering to a narrower top face 88 of the guide block part. As shown in FIG. 3, the lower edge of the front face 87 is continued by a forwardly projecting, sloping guide plate 87a. The parts of the guide block are secured by straps 89 screwed to the side flanges of the beam 12. The inwardfacing edge of each stop plate 85 also carries a rearwardly projecting arm 89a running in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus, the upper face whereof is flush with the upper surface of the stop plate.

Inside the stop plates and guide block parts as well as between these parts and the reversing roller 9 of the belt 3, two flat star wheels 90 are fitted, in conjunction forming a double star wheel and fixed with their teeth corresponding on a shaft 91, the outer ends whereof are joumalled in the plates 25 of the underframe 22. The shaft 91 is driven through a chain transmission gear 92 with a free-wheel clutch 93, from the shaft 11.

The points of the teeth of the star wheels 90 carry small rollers 94 which when the star wheels are rotated, describe an arc 95 drawn as a broken line in FIG. 2 which intersects the underside of the stacking station and the front face of the stop plate 85, and circumscribes the guide block 86. The number of teeth on the star wheels is so selected that by the action of the star-wheel drive coupled with the belt drive, and with an average overlap of about 5 cm. of the individual sheets, each star-wheel tooth enters under a next following sheet 5 and guides it upwards by its leading edge.

Before starting to stack, the backing plate 68 is firstly so adjusted that the distance between this plate and the stop plate 85 is equal to the length of the sheets to be stacked. These paper sheets are fed into the stacking apparatus in the manner already described, as a continuous flow of overlapping sheets, between the belts 3 and 4, passing under the bottom edge of the backing plate 68, to the stacking station. As soon as the leading edge of a sheet reaches the guide block 86 the leading edge moves up the front face 87 of the guide block, being raised by a point of each star wheel 90, as is shown in FIG. 2 for the sheet 5b. In its continuing motion this sheet strikes against the stop member 85, being supported at its leading end with vibratory motion on the rapidly-rotating teeth of the star wheels in the position 5c. The trailing end of the sheet 5c rests on the sheet 5b the trailing end whereof rests on the next following sheet, which pushes under the preceding. Forward feeding of further sheets moves the rear edge of the sheet 50 so far upwards that this end comes within the reach of the toothed belt 4 and is gripped by these teeth thereof and carried upwards past the farthest projecting part of the belt 4 where it runs over the roller 64 until it reaches the position 5d supported on the belt 4. The following sheets are likewise individually carried forward and upwards to form a stack 96 (FIG. 1), which is supported at one end centrally by the rapidly-moving points of the star wheels 90 and at the other end centrally on the projecting part of toothed belt 4 running over roller 64. Since the paper sheets forming this stack are transversely curved, the stack is sufficiently rigid longitudinally so as not to sag in the middle. The stack in process of formation consequently does not press on the sheets fed forward by feed belt 3, so that they can be pushed under each other with only little friction and there is therefore no danger that the possible still wet sheets will become smeared with printing ink.

For the periodical separation of a completed stack a separating mechanism 97 is provided (FIG. 2). This mechanism comprises a parting finger 98 attached on two parallel plates 99 which are pivotably carried on a shaft 100 joumalled in the main frame 1, 2' of the apparatus. This parting finger 98 projects forward and lies with its tip 101 between the two star wheels 90. The parting finger carries a removal belt 102 running from a reversing roller 103 fitted behind the tip of the finger 101 closely above the upper surface of the finger to driving roller 104 running on the shaft 100, and thence over a spring-loaded tensioning roller 105 slidably fitted in the plate 99, and back to the reversing roller 103. Shaft 100 is driven through a chain sprocket 106 fitted between the frame cheek plates 2 and 2' in any suitable manner in the direction of the arrow, as shown in FIG. 2.

The parting finger can be swung between its resting position shown in FIG. 1 and 2, in which the finger tip 101 lies under the upper side of the stop plate and behind the front side of that element, into its working position shown in broken lines in FIG. 2 in which the finger and the belt 102 both run horizontally and slightly above the upper side of the stop member 85. This swinging motion is provided by a sleeve 107 freely rotating on the shaft and coupled with the plate 99, having at its outer end an arm 108 (FIG. 3) carrying on its free outer end a guide roller 109 running on a guide track 110 attached on the beam 23 of the underframe 22. This guide trace 110 is slanted or sloped in such manner that during the motion of the movable frame 22 forwards, the roller 109 is pressed upwards by the said guiding track 110 so that the parting finger 98 is swung out of its resting position into its working position, while at the end of the return stroke of the frame 22 the parting finger drops back into the resting position again.

On either side of the parting finger and the two star wheels, two laying-off belts 111 are arranged each running with its upper part over two guide rollers 1 12 and 113 attached on the carrying bars 89a, in such manner that this upper running part is directed horizontally but still remains lower than the removal belts 102 on the parting finger in its working position. From the roller 113 the belt 111 runs over a roller.114 on the shaft 11, which is attached to the nearest adjacent reversing roller 31 of the feed belt 30 and is consequently driven thereby. From the roller 114 the removal belt 111 runs to a guide roller 115 freely rotatable on the star-wheel shaft 91 and thence to the roller 112. A tensioning roller 116 (FIG. 2) presses against each of the belts 111 and is carried on an arm 117 of a shaft 118 on the movable frame 22.

Each lateral feeder belt 30 is accompanied by an additional belt 119 running off a roller 120 on shaft 11, linked with the corresponding reversing roller 31 of the adjacent feed belt 30, obliquely upwards and to the rear to a reversing roller 121 which is attached on an arm 122 fitted on shaft 118. These auxiliary belts 119 are intended to raise the downwardly hanging side parts of the stack to be removed, gradually to the level ofthe belts 111. g

Consequently, during the reciprocating motion of the frame 22, belts 111 and 119 also move and are driven at the same speed as the feed belts 3 and 30, since the roller 114 and 120 are of identical diameter with the rollers 31 on shaft 11. The removal belt 102 on the parting finger, which does not move with the frame 22, is driven at a speed which again is identical with' the absolute speed of the belts 111 and 119.

The shaft 100 and its sleeve 107, respectively, also carries two, freely rotating rollers 123, arranged to take four main removal belts 124 (FIG. 3), which are driven at'a point not visible on the drawing, with the same speed as the removal belt 102, and which carry the complete stack further away. Displacement of shaft 118 allows the rollers 121 to be set higher or lower, whereby the slope of the auxiliary belts 119 can be varied.

As FIG. 1 shows, the apparatus according to the present invention is advantageously further equipped with pressure means which grip the stacks during their assembly and removal also from the top. These means comprise a pressure roller 125 which is freely rotatable on a shaft 126 carried on an arm 127. This arm 127 is fitted together with an upwardly projecting am 128 on a bush 129 rotating on a spindle 131 fitted on the end of a rod 130. The bush 129 further carries a short bar not visible in the drawing which is rotatably linked by a spindle 132 with the outer end of a rod 133 attached by means of a plate 134 to one half of an electromagnetic clutch 135 working on a shaft 136, fixed in the machine frame. The end of a short bar 137 is freely rotatable on the spindle 136, the other end thereof being coupled by a pivot pin 138 with the rod 130, in such manner that the rods 130, 133, 137 and the short connecting bar between the spindles 131 and 132 together form a bar parallelogram or parallel motion linkage. The rod 130 of this parallel motion system is extended beyond the pivot pin 138 to the left and carries on its outer end a hanging link 139 from which an adjustably variable counterweight 140 is suspended which in greater part balances the weight of the parallel motion linkage. The suspension link 139 is equipped with an adjustable stop 141 striking on a part of the machine frame not shown in the drawing, which prevents the parallel motion system from sagging below its lowest position represented.

The parallel motion linkage carries on its rear end an upper removal belt 142 running in the longitudinal center plane of the apparatus. This belt 142 runs over a roller 143 carried on the shaft 126 and of smaller diameter than the pressure roller 125, over a larger roller freely rotating on the shaft 131, and over a roller 145 which is fitted on one end of an arm 146. This arm 146 together with an adjusting lever 147 attached thereon is freely rotatable on the bush 129, while an oppositely threaded screw spindle 148 with actuating knobs 149 is fitted between the ends of the two adjusting levers 128 and 147 so that by turning either knob 149 the lever arm 146 can be adjusted whereby the lowest running part of the belt 141 can be set at a slight angle to the horizontal; this may be desirable if, as often happens, for example in the case of folded brochures or newspapers, the stack at the side of the folded edges of the sheets is somewhat thicker than on the other side. The wheel or roller 144 is attached to a gearwheel 150 meshing with a gearwheel 151 on the spindle 152, and driven through a chain transmission gear (not shown) from a driven sprocket wheel on shaft 136, at such speed that the speed of the belt 142 is the same as that of the underlying belts 102 and 111.

The pressure roller 125 has the purpose of applying a slight clamping pressure on the top of the stack as soon as the latter has reached a certain height. When, in a manner to be described presently, a completed stack is to be removed to the right, the driven belt 142 likewise bears on the stack from the top, after the preceding part thereof has passed the pressure roller 125 over a predetermined distance. If necessary, a number of pressure rollers 125 and removal belts 142, can be provided.

The electromagnetic clutch 135 already mentioned is used to allow the belt 142 to be applied with greater force to the top of the stack in course of being removed. For this, the other half of the clutch 135 not connected with the plate 134, is coupled with a link 152, a pin 153 on the outer end whereof works in a longitudinal slot 154 of a link 155. This link 155 is pivotally mounted at the end opposite to the slot 154 on an upright 156 fixed on the movable underframe 22, and consequently moving together with the underframe. Between the pivot of link lever arm 155 and the pin 153, a spring 157 is fitted, the tension whereof can be adjusted by a setting screw 158. As soon as the frame 22 starts to move forwards, in order to remove a stack, the electromagnetic clutch 135 is energized by a contact, not shown, whereby the angle between the lever 152 and the rod 133 of the parallel motion system, is determined. Since the upright 156 moves together with the frame 22 to the right, the spring 157 is tensioned, and this tension is transmitted through the lever 152 to the parallel motion system, so that the top removal belt 142 is applied with gradually increasing pressure to the top of the stack being taken off. On the return stroke of the underframe 22, the spring tension again decreases gradually until at a predetermined point the clutch 135 is disconnected.

The separation and removal of a stack formed in the stacking station 7, proceeds as follows: As already described, on a signal from the counter 41 the connecting rod 36 begins to move, the underframe 22 and the upper frame 42 to the right, as seen in FIG. 1 and 2. At the start of this motion, the parting finger 98 is swung upwards by the guide roller 109 working on the guide track 110, and the point 101 of the finger describes an arc intersecting the upper plane 88 of the guide block 86 now moving to the right. This moves the finger into the gap 159, formed as already described between the lowest sheet of the stack just counted off and the following first sheet of the next stack to be formed. Since the finger tip 101 does not swing across the path of the inclined front face 87 of the guide block, newly arriving sheets are prevented from striking against this finger tip. During further motion of the stacking station 7 to the right, the finger 98 continues to penetrate into the opening 159 at the same time lifting the stack to be removed just above the height of the top of the stop member and the two lateral removal belts 111. The backing plate 68 presses the whole stack onto the removal belt 102 of the parting finger which in cooperation with the top removal belt 142 pulls the stack onto the removal belts 111, so that the belts 102 and 111 begin to take part in the removal of the stack together with the top removal belt 142. When the stacking station 7 with its associated elements reaches its extreme right-hand position (shown in broken lines in FIG. 2) the entire stack lies between the top takeoff belt and the bottom takeoff belts and has been accelerated to the takeoff speed of these belts, without the stack having become distorted by the action of the acceleration forces. Consequently, the stack is received by the main removal belts 124 in its original shape, and thus carried away.

During parting and removal of the stack as well as during the return stroke of the movable frames 22 and 42 to their starting positions, the forward feed of the sheets 5 continues undisturbed, and the formation of the next stack likewise proceeds unhindered.

The running speed of the'star wheels must correspond with the rate of feed of the sheets 5 in such manner that at least on an average, successive star-wheel teeth each engage under the next following sheet in the paper flow. This means, that the linear speed of the feed belts, and the overlap length of the sheets fed forward by them, must be accurately matched to the running speed of the star wheels, and the number of teeth thereon. Small fluctuations in this overlap distance are of course quite permissible, since it does not matter too much if a particular star-wheel tooth should once in a while fail to lift a sheet and for instance the next following star-wheel point should engage two sheets simultaneously.

The freewheeling clutch 93 in the star-wheel drive 90 is used to allow accurate adjustment of the teeth of the starwheels with reference to the sheets 5 being fed forward, when starting the apparatus. Should the star wheels lie with reference to the paper flow, in such a position that an arriving sheet will strike with its leading edge against the underside of a star wheel point, the sheet can because of the freewheel motion press the star wheels forward until they are in the correct angular position for their points to engage in the requisite manner, under the oncoming sheets.

Instead of a freewheel motion 93, the coupling between the shaft 11 and the star-wheel shaft 91 can be equipped with a manually operated differential gear by which, whether the apparatus is stopped or running, the shaft 91 can be turned with reference to the shaft 11 and the star wheel thus brought into the correct angular position with reference to the leading edges of the oncoming sheets.

FIG. 1 finally shows a further roller 160, over which one of the feed belts 6 runs back, the belts 6 being arranged between the central, lower feed belt 3 and the adjacent auxiliary belts 30.

Whereas in the preceding, sheets are referred to, this must be understood as including both single sheets and items having a plurality of sheets, such as newspapers. Similarly the term sheets is also intended to include any other laminae of suitable material.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for stacking sheets, such as newspapers and the like, fed to said apparatus in a continuous flow of imbricated sheets each lying with its leading edge part under the trailing edge part of the preceding sheet of said flow, comprising stack forming means, means for feeding said flow of imbricated sheets to said stack forming means in a plane of feed, said stack forming means including a stop member having an abutment face for the leading edges of said sheets fed thereto so as to stop said moving sheets and form said stack, and lifting means adjacent said stop member for lifting the leading edges of the sheets abutting against said stop member above said plane of feed, said lifting means including driven star wheel means having a plurality of radially extending teeth and so arranged that the points of said teeth describe an arc intersecting said plane of feed and the abutment face of said stop member, and a guide member arranged in front of said stop member and adjacent said star wheel means within said arc described by said teeth, said guide member having a sloping guide surface for the leading edges of said sheets rising from said plane of feed towards said abutment plane and a substantially flat upper surface, whereby the leading sheet edges are successively engaged by the teeth of said rotating star wheel means and guided upwardly along said guide surface until they abut against said abutment face where the resulting stack in course of formation is supported by said rotating star wheel means teeth, and a stack separating device arranged downstream of said stack forming means as seen in the direction of feed of said sheets, said stack forming means and stack separating device being movable relative to each other so as to allow said stack separating device to enter underneath the stack raised by said lifting means, said separating device being adapted to further lift and transfer the completed stack of sheets so separated.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said feeding means include at least one upper feed belt, and at least one lower feed belt forming said feed plane, andmeans for driving said feed belts and said star wheel means in a selected ratio of speed.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which rollers are fitted on the points of the star wheel means.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a drive shaft for said star wheel means and a freewheel clutch means coupling said star wheel means with said drive shaft.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said stack forming means further comprises second lifting means adapted to engage and lift the trailing lower edge of said stack in course of its formation.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which said feeding means include at least one driven upper feed belt and at least one driven lower feed belt forming said plane of feed, and in which said stack forming means further comprises a backing plate adjustable with respect to said stop member to a distance corresponding with the length of the sheets being handled, said backing plate having a lower edge spaced above said lower feed belt to allow the passage of said sheets to said guide member and stop member, said backing plate having a slot adjacent its lower edge, said second lifting means comprising a reversing roller for said upper feed belt arranged at said slot and projecting through the latter in the direction of feed sufficient that the trailing edges of the sheets reaching the stacking position are lifted upwards by said upper feed belt running over said reversing roller to a level past the height of the point on said upper feed belt projecting furthest towards the leading. edge of the stack.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 in which said upper feed belt is provided with outwardly projecting transversely extending teeth.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said feeding means comprise a main upper feed belt and a main lower feed belt both centrally arranged opposite one another, and two further auxiliary lower feed belts extending on both sides of said main lower feed belt and set lower than-the latter, and drive means for said several feed belts, whereby said sheets carried by said lower feed belts are caused to assume a downwardly curve cross-sectional shape before and at said stack forming means.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 in which said feeding means further comprise two pressure roller means one arranged on either side of said main upper feed belt just before the stack forming means and above said auxiliary lower feed belts for pushing the side parts of said sheets against the latter.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said feeding means comprise at least one upper feed belt, at least one lower feed belt and drive means for said feed belts, further comprising a frame member supporting said feed belts and said stack forming means, said frame member being mounted for reciprocating movement in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus towards and away from said stack separating device for periodically removing a finished stack, and frame drive means for moving said frame member, said feed belt drive means being so controlled by the motion of said frame member that the absolute linear speed of said feed belts remains substantially constant ir-respective of said frame member motion.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 in which said upper frame part is hinged by its trailing side to a downwardly-extending arm member at its lower end pivotally mounted about the pivot axis of said parallel supporting bars at the trailing side of the frame member, said arrn member being securable on said pivot axis at an adjustable angle to said supporting bars whereby the upper frame part is adjustable longitudinally with respect to the underframe part and can be swung upwards and lowered, respectively, to bring said upper feed belt into cooperation with said lower feed belt.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 in which said stack forming means comprises a backing plate for the stacks being formed and in which said frame member includes an underframe part carrying said lower feed belt, said stop member and said first mentioned lifting means, an upper frame part carrying said upper feed belt and said backing plate, a number of pivotally mounted supporting bars supporting said underframe part and together with the latter forming a parallel motion system, said frame member drive means engaging at least one of said supporting rods, said belt dliving means comprising at least one driving wheel rotatably mounted on the pivotal axis of at least one of said supporting bars, and transmission means for driving said feed belts from said driving wheel.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 in which said backing plate is equipped with cheek plates adapted to adjustably hold the stack laterally.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said separating device comprises a parting finger extending in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus against the direction of feed of said sheets and pivotally mounted at its rear end, means being provided to swing said parting finger upwards upon its introduction underneath said stack upon said relative movement of said stack forming means and said separating device so as to lift said stack to the level of the upper side of said stop member, the tip of said parting finger during said swinging motion describing an arc to the rear of said guide surface of said guide member, said separating device further comprising removal belts extending adjacent the upper side of said stop member in the direction of feed of said sheets, said parting finger being provided on its upper side with a further driven removal belt.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising driven guide belts arranged on either side of said parting finger removal belt running obliquely from a point underneath said stack forming means upwardly in the direction of feed of said sheets whereby the finished stack is laterally guided during the removal thereof.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said separating device further comprises at least one pressure roller mounted for vertical movement over said stack forming means and adapted to engage the top of said stack in course of formation, and means for adjustably varying the pressure applied by said pressure roller.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 further comprising a frame member carrying said pressure roller, a parallel motion system hingeably supporting said frame member, and at least one driven upper removal belt likewise carried by said latter frame member and extending rearwardly from said pressure roller in the direction of feed of said sheets, said upper removal belt engaging the top of a finished stack during the removal thereof.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising counterweight means arranged to partially balance the weight of said parallel motion system and said latter frame member supported thereby.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising a tensioning spring coupled with said parallel motion system in a manner to be tensioned on the operating movement of said separating device thereby pressing said removal belt carrying frame member with increased force against said stack.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising an electromagnetic clutch coupling said spring with said parallel motion system and means for energizing said electromagnetic clutch when said stack is about to be removed.

21. The apparatus of claim 17 in which the angle at which said upper removal belts are run is adjustable with respect to said lower removal belts engaging the bottom of said stack on the removal thereof.

22. The apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a manually-adjustable differential gear coupled with said star wheel means and allowing the angular setting of said star wheel means with respect to said feed belts to be adjusted.

UNKTED STATES PATENT @IFWCE QERTEMQATE @t QQRREQTWN Patent No. 3 6713034 Dated June 20 1972 Inventor) Garardus Johannes De Kidder It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the cover sheet [73] the name of the assignee should read INGENIEURSBUREAU DE RIDDER NJ?a o Signed and sealed this 19th day of December 1972.

:lttest:

EDWARD MELETCIERJR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM PO-105O (10-69) USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 w u.s. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE {95B 0-366-134, 

1. An apparatus for stacking sheets, such as newspapers and the like, fed to said apparatus in a continuous flow of imbricated sheets each lying with its leading edge part under the trailing edge part of the preceding sheet of said flow, comprising Stack forming means, means for feeding said flow of imbricated sheets to said stack forming means in a plane of feed, said stack forming means including a stop member having an abutment face for the leading edges of said sheets fed thereto so as to stop said moving sheets and form said stack, and lifting means adjacent said stop member for lifting the leading edges of the sheets abutting against said stop member above said plane of feed, said lifting means including driven star wheel means having a plurality of radially extending teeth and so arranged that the points of said teeth describe an arc intersecting said plane of feed and the abutment face of said stop member, and a guide member arranged in front of said stop member and adjacent said star wheel means within said arc described by said teeth, said guide member having a sloping guide surface for the leading edges of said sheets rising from said plane of feed towards said abutment plane and a substantially flat upper surface, whereby the leading sheet edges are successively engaged by the teeth of said rotating star wheel means and guided upwardly along said guide surface until they abut against said abutment face where the resulting stack in course of formation is supported by said rotating star wheel means teeth, and a stack separating device arranged downstream of said stack forming means as seen in the direction of feed of said sheets, said stack forming means and stack separating device being movable relative to each other so as to allow said stack separating device to enter underneath the stack raised by said lifting means, said separating device being adapted to further lift and transfer the completed stack of sheets so separated.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said feeding means include at least one upper feed belt, and at least one lower feed belt forming said feed plane, and means for driving said feed belts and said star wheel means in a selected ratio of speed.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which rollers are fitted on the points of the star wheel means.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a drive shaft for said star wheel means and a freewheel clutch means coupling said star wheel means with said drive shaft.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said stack forming means further comprises second lifting means adapted to engage and lift the trailing lower edge of said stack in course of its formation.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which said feeding means include at least one driven upper feed belt and at least one driven lower feed belt forming said plane of feed, and in which said stack forming means further comprises a backing plate adjustable with respect to said stop member to a distance corresponding with the length of the sheets being handled, said backing plate having a lower edge spaced above said lower feed belt to allow the passage of said sheets to said guide member and stop member, said backing plate having a slot adjacent its lower edge, said second lifting means comprising a reversing roller for said upper feed belt arranged at said slot and projecting through the latter in the direction of feed sufficient that the trailing edges of the sheets reaching the stacking position are lifted upwards by said upper feed belt running over said reversing roller to a level past the height of the point on said upper feed belt projecting furthest towards the leading edge of the stack.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6 in which said upper feed belt is provided with outwardly projecting transversely extending teeth.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said feeding means comprise a main upper feed belt and a main lower feed belt both centrally arranged opposite one another, and two further auxiliary lower feed belts extending on both sides of said main lower feed belt and set lower than the latter, and drive means for said several feed belts, whereby said sheets carried by said lower feed belts are caused to assume a downwardly curved cross-sectional shape before and at said sTack forming means.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8 in which said feeding means further comprise two pressure roller means one arranged on either side of said main upper feed belt just before the stack forming means and above said auxiliary lower feed belts for pushing the side parts of said sheets against the latter.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said feeding means comprise at least one upper feed belt, at least one lower feed belt and drive means for said feed belts, further comprising a frame member supporting said feed belts and said stack forming means, said frame member being mounted for reciprocating movement in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus towards and away from said stack separating device for periodically removing a finished stack, and frame drive means for moving said frame member, said feed belt drive means being so controlled by the motion of said frame member that the absolute linear speed of said feed belts remains substantially constant ir-respective of said frame member motion.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10 in which said upper frame part is hinged by its trailing side to a downwardly-extending arm member at its lower end pivotally mounted about the pivot axis of said parallel supporting bars at the trailing side of the frame member, said arm member being securable on said pivot axis at an adjustable angle to said supporting bars whereby the upper frame part is adjustable longitudinally with respect to the underframe part and can be swung upwards and lowered, respectively, to bring said upper feed belt into cooperation with said lower feed belt.
 12. The apparatus of claim 10 in which said stack forming means comprises a backing plate for the stacks being formed and in which said frame member includes an underframe part carrying said lower feed belt, said stop member and said first mentioned lifting means, an upper frame part carrying said upper feed belt and said backing plate, a number of pivotally mounted supporting bars supporting said underframe part and together with the latter forming a parallel motion system, said frame member drive means engaging at least one of said supporting rods, said belt driving means comprising at least one driving wheel rotatably mounted on the pivotal axis of at least one of said supporting bars, and transmission means for driving said feed belts from said driving wheel.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12 in which said backing plate is equipped with cheek plates adapted to adjustably hold the stack laterally.
 14. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said separating device comprises a parting finger extending in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus against the direction of feed of said sheets and pivotally mounted at its rear end, means being provided to swing said parting finger upwards upon its introduction underneath said stack upon said relative movement of said stack forming means and said separating device so as to lift said stack to the level of the upper side of said stop member, the tip of said parting finger during said swinging motion describing an arc to the rear of said guide surface of said guide member, said separating device further comprising removal belts extending adjacent the upper side of said stop member in the direction of feed of said sheets, said parting finger being provided on its upper side with a further driven removal belt.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14 further comprising driven guide belts arranged on either side of said parting finger removal belt running obliquely from a point underneath said stack forming means upwardly in the direction of feed of said sheets whereby the finished stack is laterally guided during the removal thereof.
 16. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said separating device further comprises at least one pressure roller mounted for vertical movement over said stack forming means and adapted to engage the top of said stack in course of formation, and means for adjustably varying the pressure applied by said pressure roller.
 17. The Apparatus of claim 16 further comprising a frame member carrying said pressure roller, a parallel motion system hingeably supporting said frame member, and at least one driven upper removal belt likewise carried by said latter frame member and extending rearwardly from said pressure roller in the direction of feed of said sheets, said upper removal belt engaging the top of a finished stack during the removal thereof.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising counterweight means arranged to partially balance the weight of said parallel motion system and said latter frame member supported thereby.
 19. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising a tensioning spring coupled with said parallel motion system in a manner to be tensioned on the operating movement of said separating device thereby pressing said removal belt carrying frame member with increased force against said stack.
 20. The apparatus of claim 19 further comprising an electromagnetic clutch coupling said spring with said parallel motion system and means for energizing said electromagnetic clutch when said stack is about to be removed.
 21. The apparatus of claim 17 in which the angle at which said upper removal belts are run is adjustable with respect to said lower removal belts engaging the bottom of said stack on the removal thereof.
 22. The apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a manually-adjustable differential gear coupled with said star wheel means and allowing the angular setting of said star wheel means with respect to said feed belts to be adjusted. 